MID server really required for web service integration?

[anand_tank]

Hi All,

I am very new to ServiceNow and very little aware of SN capabilities and its best practices.

I need help on deciding MID server is really required for integrating with web services in asynch manner. I have gone through multiple link on wiki to get the answer, but i could not find specific answer for why MID server is preferred for web service integration in asynch manner?

Articles on wiki states that if needed MID server can be used to integrate web service. For me this is very generic statement and I would not prefer to take any decision based on this.

As far as requirements are concerned, there is no need for monitoring and discovery capabilities of MID sever for the project for now. Project need is that it requires web service integration in asynch fashion.

I need to know pros and cons of using MID server for web service integration. For example, MID server will add to delay in processing since MID server is pre-configured to look for jobs/task every X minutes.

Thanks,

-Anand

[Mark Stanger]

The point of the MID server is to allow you to communicate with end points inside of a customer firewall without the need to poke a hole through the firewall or set up a dedicated external IP endpoint for that communication.   The MID server is an async communication mechanism typically but the setup of async vs synchronous really depends on how the web service call is invoked.   If you don't want to have to worry about poking a hole in the firewall, then a MID server is the only answer.   If you have a public-facing IP endpoint you can communicate with then a MID server isn't necessary.

[anand_tank]

Thanks Mark for the response.

I understand need for MID server from security point of view and wanted to confirm that it is the only reason for using MID server while web service integration (synch/asynch).

In my case, client is looking forward to use existing B2B infrastructure(IBM DataPower) for various integrations and looking for real need for MID server.

For now, mutual authentication (certificate based) is thought upon for web service integration with security.

Would like to have your view points and assessments.

Thanks.

[Mark Stanger]

That's really the only real reason.   It's very useful for a lot of different situations, but if you can communicate directly to the endpoint already, then there's no need to introduce the MID server into the equation.

[anand_tank]

Thanks Mark.